Basics about LED Illumination – Lumen, Lux, PAR and Photosynthesis

Light is Not Just Light – The Basics of Mitras® LED Illumination by GHL

Benefit from ourmany years of experience–since 2002, we offerdimmableled lightsfor application in aquatics.

Photosynthetic Efficiency with Mitras Luminaires

Photosynthetic Efficiency with Mitras Luminaires

With the help of light energy from CO2 and water, coral symbionts and plants build carbohydrates and discard oxygen; this process is called photosynthesis. In charge of this energy production is the plant pigment chlorophyll (a + b and carotene).

Light beams are electromagnetic waves, consisting of energy particles called photons. The energy of the so-called Photon is dependent on its wavelength (nm) and its frequency (THz). Different wavelengths of light we see as color. The visible light by humans covers only a particular segment of the electromagnetic spectrum, which moves in the range of 380-750 nm.

As you can see – For the intended use, a suitable light spectrum and light intensity are crucial for the photosynthetic activity of coral symbiont and plants. The higher the photosynthesis rate is, the stronger and healthier growth will be.

LUX (lm/m2) is the unit of illuminance, which indicates which luminous flux (lumens) falls on a particular area. The light output in lumens (lm) as a measure of the brightness is standardized to human vision sensitivity. Since people perceive blue or red light less intensely than green light, the lumen decreases with consistent high radiation values, the more blue or red the light is.

Therefore the specified lumens at our Mitras Daylight, for example, are much higher than in the Mitras Actinic, though the wattage is almost identical.

The qualification of a luminaire only based on lumens/watt (light output per electrical power) is not always suitable as it says nothing about the photosynthetic efficiency of light

It is quite so that a luminaire with high lumens but an unfavorable spectrum of photosynthesis is less beneficial than a luminaire with slightly fewer lumens but, therefore, optimum range.

More meaningful is the so-called PAR value (Photosynthetic Active Radiation), which describes the available radiation for photosynthesis.

More Facts why Mitras Luminaires are Your Best Choice

When comparingourMitras Luminaireswith others, you should note the following points:

Our electric power also includes the consumption of the control electronics, not only the consumption of the LEDs.

The light performance indicated by us also includes the performance of the LEDs, which contribute less to the creation of lumen but which optimize the spectrum.

Furthermore, we indicate the actual remaining lumen after deducting the losses through the glass and temperature increase.

Contrary to the commonly used practice to use cheap series resistors for LED-current limiting, in our luminaires, we control the current of LEDs precisely by electronics. Through this, we can also minimize current consumption and waste heat.

We truly believe that we could utilize the maximum out of LED-technology – the best LEDs, an extremely transparent protector plate, a massive cooling, and electronic control. More is hardly possible. If you find elsewhere better performance data, then you should question this critically.

We don’t indicate any ideal theoretic values but the performance data which can be reached in practice after the deduction of all losses.